Archive for the ‘Guitar Amplifier’ Category
Are you a mellow acoustic guitar picker style, or maybe you like to exercise your guitar amplifier volume control along with some classic rock electric guitar solos. You practice like crazy but feel like something is still missing.
Whether your learning through an instructor, or teaching yourself from the many guitar lessons that are available on line, or maybe you just play by ear it pays to find some other musicians in your area. They can be equal, better or even just beginning ir doesn’t matter, everyone benefits from just getting together to jam.
You might learn something from that person playing an acoustic guitar, or he might pick something up from you on your electric guitar. Jamming alone makes you a better player. You find your own concentration will be better, along with that instinctive quality that makes you try harder not to make any mistakes.
Turn off your guitar amplifier and put down your electric guitar, there is a radio program that will put a new twist on the way you view and listen to your favorite rock and roll songs. This radio show takes your favorite rock songs done by your favorite rock band but the song is done acoustically.
The name of the show is The Acoustic Storm. It normally airs on Sunday morning and it’s pure listening joy. Do you like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama”, how about Skynyrd doing the song on an acoustic guitar. How about the Rolling Stones doing “Honkey Tonk Women” or Led Zeppelin doing “Going To California” in a way that you have never heard it.
If your a big fan of rock and roll try tuning to The Acoustic Storm one time, that’s all it will take for you to be hooked.
Were nearing the end of the winter, this means the end of the cold weather, and the beginning of springtime and the of warmer temperatures it brings.
This is a great time to start up the barbecue, invite some of your along with their electric guitar packages and set up outside. Playing outside your sound is swallowed up by the outdoors so it’s a great time for you to crank up your guitar amplifier to see what it’s made of.
When your playing in your living room or even your basement the sound travels and you have a tendency to hold back, but playing outside all bets are off, you and your friends can crank up the volume and really have some fun.
If the weather is overcast or is raining try setting up in your garage with the doors open, you’ll not only impress yourself with your sound, you will also impress your neighbors and who knows you might even be asked to play at their barbecues.
Practice doesn’t always lead to perfect, but who cares. Whether your learning how to finger-pick an acoustic guitar, or your teaching yourself that hard rock solo on your electric guitar, the more you practice the better you will become.
It doesn’t matter if your a beginner or intermediate guitar player, if you don’t get it quite right who cares, the idea is to relax and have fun with it. In most cases the more you do have fun with it the more relaxed you are and will probably learn it that much faster.
After you are fairly profecient with your guitar the fun really begins, if your playing an electric guitar you can experiment with different sounds. Your guitar amplifier comes with different control knobs, try using different settings to achieve different sounds.
Did you ever purchase something just to find out you need something else to make it work properly? Like buying a hockey puck without a stick, or a hockey stick without a puck. How about purchasing an IPOD alone that didn’t come with ear buds or some other device to produce the sound.
The same thing applies to purchasing a guitar. Whether it be an electric guitar, or even an electric bass guitar, without an amplifier the results would be same you can practice for yourself with the guitar but it would be awfully hard to hear anything without a bass amplifier or guitar amplifier.
From a logic’s stand point it makes much more sense to purchase an electric guitar package or a bass guitar package. Your wallet will thank you for this also as it is less expensive to buy a bass or electric guitar package. Along with an amplifier you would receive a guitar tuner ( also a necessity ), your guitar isn’t any good if it is not in tune ( bet you didn’t even think about that one ),
Everyone who plays an instrument at some time or another has wanted to sound like their favorite musician. Whether it’s someone playing an electric guitar or a bass guitar they all have the same thing in common, they are playing through a preamp.
A preamp is an amplifier plugged into another amplifier. Sometimes called a control amp, the purpose of a preamp is to prepare the signal played by your electric guitar for further amplification.
Although your favorite band uses equipment that is way to expensive for us to afford, you can achieve the same thing by plugging your guitar cable into one amplifier, then plug another cable from the headphones jack of the first amplifier to the input of another amplifier.
This will work with a two guitar amplifiers or two bass amplifiers.
One of my favorite pastimes is attending concerts. Over the past few years I have become somewhat of a (self-described) aficionado, traveling around the Pacific Northwest to attend various events. While the band is, obviously, the most crucial element to any concert, I have developed a list of other essential elements that contribute to a great concert.
~Sound Quality: It doesn’t matter how good the band is if they are playing on subpar equipment. The best shows, in my opinion, come from the large acts that have the money to invest in top-of-the-line guitar amplifiers and other equipment.
~Stage Show: No matter how good the music is, it is still important to have a solid stage show to keep the audience visually stimulated as well.
~The Venue: Not only does the venue play a huge role in the sound quality, but it also sets the ambiance for the show. Seeing an acoustic concert in a classical theatre or going to a rock festival at The Gorge of the Columbia River can enhance even the most mundane performance.
There are some bands that are easy to remember like The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beatles, AC~DC, Queen, they are either remembered for a particular song that you like, or you remember them for a particular musician. One band that comes to my mind as not being well remembered is The Amboy Dukes.
In 1968 The Amboy Dukes came out with a single “Journey To The Center Of Your Mind”, this is the song I remember them for. The electric guitar that was played for this song is a Gibson hollow body guitar played through a Fender guitar amplifier, the guitar was attached to a musician by the name of Ted Nugent. His so called signature sound was achieved playing only with Fender Amplifers.
Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree with his personal or political convictions but one thing you have to agree on is this guy can play guitar, listen to the song I mentioned above and listen for yourself.
It is used in blues, jazz, and pop bands, but when you think of rock and roll you think electric guitars. Most electric guitars are what is called a solid body, some have a hollow body which means they can be played without an amplifier like an acoustic guitar.
Unlike the acoustic guitar the design of the electric guitar is unlimited. That being said the two most popular designs are the Stratocaster style and the Les Paul style. Because the electric guitar needs amplification to be heard its sound can’t compared with that of an acoustic guitar’s sound box. With the necessity of an amplifier if you are considering an electric guitar you need to give thought to what amplifier you will use, consider your amplifier an extension of your guitar.